2007 Vintage Report

Although not escaping all of the horrors of the 2007 vintage, we have come out of it relatively unscathed. Despite some frost damage to a few Chardonnay blocks, all other varieties have remained largely unaffected. This, no doubt, has emphasized the importance of vineyard site selection, with the majority of our blocks fortunately planted on relatively steep slopes. Our main concern for vintage was whether we would have enough water to get us through the growing season. Fortunately, the early harvest date reduced irrigation requirements and we escaped with just enough. An interesting point to note for this vintage was that despite the maximum temperatures during the ripening season being hotter than average, the minimum temperatures were actually below average. The large diurnal variation between night and day can be explained by the dry conditions, and on that basis, the mean daily temperature during the ripening period was strangely cooler than the average.